Maintaining Healthy Habits in College

College is a time of dramatic changes. For some students, it’s the first time that they’ve lived on their own with the responsibility to finally take charge of their own life. College courses are also much more difficult than any other previous schooling, leading to late nights of studying and plentiful amounts of stress. It’s easy for new college students to feel overwhelmed and pick up some unhealthy habits, but with a little preparation you can make sure that your health is up to the challenge.

Stick to Solid Sleep Schedule

Getting enough sleep every night is a good way to keep your stress levels down and feel energized for each day of class. Make a sleep habit that you can stick to, even during the weekends. If you have trouble falling asleep, try to avoid using your smartphone or your computer for about 30 minutes before bedtime. Reading and drinking tea can help your brain start to relax and prepare for sleep. Be sure to avoid having excessive caffeine in the evening so that you can fall asleep easily.

Learn to Say No

College life usually means easy access to tasty foods, from the candy in the vending machines to the doughnuts in the bakery across the street. If you’re now living on your own, you might feel emboldened to partake of delicious treats at any hour. Learning when to say no is a good skill that will help you keep the extra pounds off. Avoid eating when you’re not actually hungry, and stick to light snacks when you need a little treat. Try to avoid eating too much late at night as well; this can cause heartburn and weight gain.

Eat Regular Meals

When you’re racing from one class to another with twenty different deadlines looming ahead of you, it’s easy to forget to eat a meal now and then. However, if you start missing meals regularly, your body and your brain won’t be properly fueled for the demands of college. Adjust your schedule so that you have enough time in the morning to get breakfast without feeling panicked about missing class. Start taking your lunch with you, or find a healthy place you can buy a lunch. Keeping a handful of healthy snacks in your backpack, such as peanuts or dried fruit, can help you get some nutrition when you unexpectedly are late for a meal.

Find an Exercise Activity You Love

Regular exercise is a great way to burn off some stress, boost your fitness levels and lose some weight. However, there’s little point in picking an exercise that you hate. Instead, choose an activity that you that you enjoy and would look forward to. This can include:

Yoga with friends

Walking around campus

Joining a gym

Taking a sports class, such as badminton

Making time for exercise, even if it’s only for a few minutes a day, can help you unwind and take a break from your deadlines and homework.

Load up on Healthy Foods

Filling up your plate with healthy foods, including vegetables and fruits, can help you avoid eating too much unhealthy junk food. Aim to build a colorful plate with a variety of fresh foods for each meal. A simple meal of grilled chicken, brown rice and roasted vegetables will keep you full and be easy on your waistline. If you want to indulge in the occasional calorie-rich meal, such as pizza, pair it with a nutritious salad with a light dressing.

While you’re in college, maintaining your healthy habits may be a challenge. Including a little extra time each day so that you can take care of your physical health is a good way to reduce stress and become healthier.

Stop Procrastinating

College students face tons of essays, courseworks and science papers during their years of study. And it’s not a big deal when these works are just in the ordinary flow. But when it comes to a 90-page senior thesis, you have to spend at least 1 year on it. This is where procrastination finds and catches you. A way too big project presupposes planning an explicit strategy. Almost every student decides to start in the middle of a year in order to meet the deadline. What happens next? Months pass by and dust covers your thesis.

Then you invent another strategy – to start two months before the deadline. But two months turn into one, which turns into several weeks. So one sunny morning you come out of the oblivion with two days until the deadline without a word written. What a challenge, to produce 90 pages in 48 days. You don’t sleep, eat or relax, struggling to be in time. Yes, you will get your mark, but results are nearly always frustrating.

How to avoid this Procrastination Monster? You’ll need to get rid of all the leisure temptations that prevent you from completing tasks. But let’s face the truth: students are not so responsible. It is impossible to kill procrastinations, all of us are subjected to it. But you can optimize your work for the sake of your career. Consider your calendar, mind the whole process and don’t let anything ruin your study goals.

Try not to burn out

Life in college is full of activities. Most of them are odd and unwanted. But it takes time to get this fact. Various competitions, contests, matches, socials, soirees, rave-ups..how not to surrender? Moreover, every mate will try to drag you to a new party and resisting is tough! It is very dangerous not to have a time-schedule, because participating in the each and every scene, you will burn out quickly. Pick up the most significant events and don’t violate your precious time. Set the priorities and maximize the advantage of your college experience.